3 x £40
Sheila Apps, Prestbury; A Ashworth, Greenmount; Rita Roby, Heskin.

DEMON
£100
R Hamlen Chippenham.

2 x £40
Keith Hill, Bloxwich; Gregory Porilo, Upper Tooting.

GOLIATHON
£100
Carol Price, Carshalton.

4 x £20
M B Anthony, Monifieth; Peter Barber, Forfar; C Curran, Sheffield; Keith Sutton, Guildford.

COUPON
2 Sainsbury’s £10 Gift Cards for each contest

BIG EASY
Sol: All Things Being Equal
D Craik, Blackness; Monica Micallef, Gateshead.

NINESIES
Sol: Cruise
Jennifer Eager, Horsham; B Revitt, Llandeilo.

WHEEL WORDS
Sol: Interject
S Beresford, Andreas; Julia Gilling, Plymouth.

ELEVENSES
Sol: Leisure
Dorothy Gates, Carlton; Claire Lord, Bolton.

STAFF CHOICE
Sol: 361592847
Robert Trusler, Northampton; R J Warrilow, Welwyn Garden City.

TWO-WAY TEASER
Sol: Signature Tune
Isobel Bardsley, Tibshelf; Vivienne Howorth, Worcester.

CONCEPT-CROSS
Sol: Bewilder
Anne Robinson, Huddersfield; Doreen Webb, Ipswich.

ACROSTIC
Sol: As Mad as a March Hare
K Bowditch, Bridport; A Dykes, St Albans.

DO YOUR BLOCK
Sol: Luscious
A Bonfield, Standon; B Hodgson, Eastbourne.

FILL-IN
Sol: Tastiest
Alison Burke, Radcliffe; Diane Kenney, Wigston.

WIZ WORDS
Sol: Aviation
Pearl Godber, Sutton-in-Ashfield; Sheila Ingles, Rednal.

STARHUNT 5
Sol: Billy Joel
Irene Clouston, Stromness; A S Cutler, Dartford.

STARHUNT 6
Sol: Annette Bening
Steve Clayton, Blackpool; Amanda Haines, Cardiff.

STARHUNT 7
Sol: Kelly Osbourne
Susanne Goode, Shepton Mallet; Wendy Webb, Kidderminster.

STARHUNT 8
Sol: Chris Klein
Monica Heyes, Shanklin; Mr & Mrs Jones, Llechryd.

BIG TOUGHER
Sol: Get a Second Wind
V Gardner, Morley; G Shapton, Plasmarl.

FINDAWORD
Sol: Paper Rock Scissors
T Healy, Grangemouth; Joan White, Sutton-in-Ashfield.

The clue 24ac   ‘In 1967 Sir Malcolm Sargent conducted The Last Night Of The …’ for the answer PROMS was inaccurate. Although Sir Malcolm was at the concert, Colin Davis conducted it because Sir Malcolm was too ill.

Thanks to Jonathan Ormond, of Ludlow for writing in about this error.

4 x £25
Sue Grant, North Allerton; Margaret Jones, Holyhead; Enid Kelleher, Mulbarton; Mary McKay, Woodland Park.

BAFFLER
3 x £50
C Y Friel, Fleet; J C Holmes, Bournemouth; Jeanne Perkins, Loscoe.

GIANT CRYPTIC
1 x £100
M Potter, Grange Over Sands.

3 Sainsbury’s £10 Gift Cards
C Jones, Cannock; Janet Matthews, Edmundbyers; Margaret Otter, North Allerton.
STINKER
£100
E L Scott, Selkirk.

3 Sainsbury’s £10 Gift Cards
Christine Casey, Yapton; T Martin, Garforth; Joyce Woolley, Northwich.

THE KNOWLEDGE
Sol: Little Dorrit
2 x £25
J M Alsop, Gislingham; Wayne Horton, Newport.

Page 27 Competition Stinker Grid Header
The header above the grid says ‘Giant Cryptic’ instead of ‘Stinker’.  The grid and postal details are correct.

Thanks to Edward Shepperd for alerting us to this error.

Page 21 Baffler
The clue ‘Carnivale city’ should read ‘Carnival city’.

Thanks to Elizabeth White for alerting us to this error.

3 x £40
Malka Block, Colindale; Brian Cowles, Wembury; Carole Rabone, Bebington.

DEMON
£100
Peggy Cox, March.

3 x £25
Carol Price, Carshalton; John Quigley, Paisley; G Sparkes, Abbey Wood.

GOLIATHON
£100
K A Brook, Bollington.

4 x £20
Shirley Dudfield, Whitnash; Anne Logan, Dunloy; L M Priestley, Crowland; C Rifkin, Yarmouth.

COUPON
2 Sainsbury’s £10 Gift Cards for each contest

BIG EASY
Sol: Nobody’s Perfect
T Healy, Grangemouth; Anne Logan, Dunloy.

NINESIES
Sol: Wrestle
Jane Parker, Spilsby; Norma Robinson, Swindon.

WHEEL WORDS
Sol: Downright
D A Shaw, Tamworth; Winsome Stack,Trearddur Bay.

ELEVENSES
Sol: Fervent
I Crowder, Macclesfield; P M O’Farrell, Trallwn.

STAFF CHOICE
Sol: Youngster
P A Albon, Wainfleet; Sylvia Ward, Leeds.

TWO-WAY TEASER
Sol: Once Upon a Time
Barbara Gill, Botley; J B Ward, Oadby.

CONCEPT-CROSS
Sol: Nearest
Maureen Clark, Wyke; I Rossbottom, Preston.

ACROSTIC
Sol: Mars Curiosity Rover
G Harmer, Crawley; J Morrison, Pitlochry.

DO YOUR BLOCK
Sol: Paradise
Vera Metcalf, Barnton; Salloy Wood Blackford.

FILL-IN
Sol: Divine
E Kitchen, West Hallam; Margaret Stanhope, Hayling Island.

WIZ WORDS
Sol: Marinade
A M Goward, Farnborough; S McNally, Thetford.

STARHUNT 5
Sol: Garry Shandling
B D Close, Cambridge; George Moy, Chichester.

STARHUNT 6
Sol: Ellen DeGeneres
A Jones, Llannefydd; John Smith, Wakefield.

STARHUNT 7
Sol: Jane Seymour
S Harrison, Mansfield; D E Roberts, Pytchley.

STARHUNT 8
Sol: Keiffer Sutherland
R A Carter, Leigh-on-Sea; Alan Morgan, Fairwater.

BIG TOUGHER
Sol: Right or Wrong
Astrid Hurst, St Ives; D King, Leeds.

FINDAWORD
Sol: Peaches Honey Blossom
A B Dunnett, Flowton; Norman Rees, Luton.

3 x £50
S P Addlesee, Dunstable; M Anderson, Huntly; Patricia Woolmore, London.

DOUBLE MONSTER
1 x £200
D S Phillips, Worcester.

MONSTER COLOSSUS
1 x £100
E Down, Laira.

2 x £25
Pat Odell, Mablethorpe; Mary Richards, Ryde.

MONSTER STARHUNT
Solution: Catherine Zeta-Jones

1 x £100
N Mathews, Huddersfield.

2 x £25
E Dale, Broadstairs; Julie Garland, Chepstow.

STINKER
1 x £100
Michelle Robson, Cannock.

2 Home Office Prize Packs
S Beresford, Andreas; M Roden, Bexhill.

GIANT CRYPTIC
1 x £100
Janet Ball, Sutton.

2 Collins Gem Prize Packs
S Brown, Bishop’s Stortford; Julia Nesbitt, Chester le Street.

CONTEST COUPON
Photo-Find
Solution: Dandelion
2 Kitchen Prize Packs
Jennifer Green, Holmes Chapel; Irene McDonnell, Ormskirk.

Magic Squares
Solution: Resonated
2 Home Office Prize Packs
Raymond Garlick, Warrington; H E Rix, Basildon.

Spirogram
Solution: Tennis
2 Kitchen Prize Packs
Sue Hill, Portsmouth; Beryl Linehan, Chadderton.

Pop Words
Solution: Genesis
2 Home Office Prize Packs
Lindsay Burnett, Nigg; M Clayton, Chesterfield.

FindaWord
Solution: Artist’s Palette
2 Kitchen Prize Packs
Rachael Austin, Trowbridge; P Swinnerton, Atherstone.

Starcross
Solution: Revenge
2 Lovatts Domino Sets
James Girdwood, West Calder; J Morrison, Lake.

Do Your Block
Solution: Fantastic
2 Home Office Prize Packs
R S Bowers, Ardrossan; P Roscoe, Welling.

Acrostic
Solution: Saint John the Baptist
2 Kitchen Prize Packs
T E Osborne, Warwick; R Watt, Longwell Green.

Cluedunnit
Solution: Rupert Grint
2 Home Office Prize Packs
B Hodgson, Eastbourne; M White, Redruth.

The clue 44ac ‘Yobs’ has the answer YOBS. The clue should have been ‘Louts’.

Thanks to Ken Kirby, of South Yorkshire for writing in about this error.

2 x Home Office Prize Packs
M Milton, Ilford; J Patrick, Halifax.

Mega Mix
1 x £100
James Girdwood, West Calder.

2 x Collins Gem Prize Packs
Janet Hodson, Liverpool; Nick Robbins, Middleton-on-Sea.

Mega Stinker
1 x £100
J Walton, Lockstock Hall.

3 x Kitchen Prize Packs
P Hagger, Hull; A Inglesby, Cheltenham; R Ratcliffe, Leigh.

Mrs Beryl Bennett, Wollaton, Nottingham
Mrs Ruth Singleton, Salisbury, Wiltshire
Mr Michael Spinks, Exeter
Mrs S Tunstall, Newbury, Berkshire
Mrs Sylvia Whitehead, London

Sometimes a word comes your way which makes you realise that there’s a whole different world of activity out there that you never dreamed of.

One advantage of solving crosswords that you may have discovered is expanding your vocabulary. I know many of you keep a notebook of new words you come across, so that you can remember them next time they appear in a crossword.

People think that because I create crosswords I must know all the words – the truth is very far from that. I come across unknown words all the time, and usually try to make a note of them, to look up later.

I encountered the word tribology recently and made a note for future research. It looks like the perfect word for the study of tribes, but that is far from its meaning.

Car Engine

Tribology (pronounced try-bolla-jee) is the study of friction, wear, lubrication and the design of bearings; the science of interacting surfaces in relative motion. In other words, how things rub along with each other. This is the definition in the Oxford English Dictionary but more than that, the Sometimes a word comes your way which makes you realise that there’s a whole different world of activity out there that you never dreamed of.word was actually invented by the lexicographers at OED.

In 1965, a group of lubrication engineers decided they needed a name for what they did and contacted the editors of the Oxford English Dictionary for help. Out of this came the word tribology, from the Greek tribos ‘rubbing’.

Isn’t it comforting to know that there are teams of scientists out there studying how skates behave on ice or how tyres adapt to different road conditions, improving our safety and efficiency in so many ways?

Sabaton

Another strange word I had to look up recently is sabaton. A weapon used by a saboteur maybe? No, it’s the footwear that goes with a knight’s armour. The sabaton, also known as a solleret, is a pointy shoe made of – wait for it – riveted iron plates. And I thought my stilettos were uncomfortable. Imagine walking on iron plates!

Up until the 15C, they ended in a tapered point well past the toes but then they were made to end at the tip of the toes – probably got fed up with being trodden on. In fact, the length of the sabaton was a class-conscious issue. Only princes and dukes were allowed to have toes 2.5 feet long, lords 2 feet long and gentry only 1-foot long.

So watch out – I might add these words to a crossword any time soon. Remember you read it here first.

Happy Puzzling!